In 2011, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine issued an open call for sexual assault evidence kits after Plain Dealer stories revealed that thousands of untested kits were in storage – sometimes for decades – at police departments across Ohio. Now, after forensic testing, the kits are yielding results, linking cases to each other and to DNA profiles in databases. And prosecutors and detectives are revisiting the evidence, tracking down victims, using DNA to connect serial rapes and sending cases to the grand jury for indictment – all while racing against a 20-year statute of limitations. The Plain Dealer is committed to chronicling each case, including the following indictment released this week that involves the rape of a 14-year-old girl.

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